Edgar Stoesz is both a practitioner and a student/teacher of organizational theory. Having served as a CEO, responsible to a board, and on numerous and varied boards, he understands both sides of the organizational equation. The book he co-authored,
Doing Good Better (Good Books), is used by many boards as a primer.
In addition to serving the Mennonite Central Committee in a variety of senior management roles, Stoesz has chaired numerous for-profit and nonprofit boards including Habitat for Humanity International, Hospital Albert Schweitzer, Mennonite Indemnity, and Heifer Project International. He currently chairs the board of the American Leprosy Mission.
Since co-authoring Doing Good Better in 1995, Stoesz has addressed or conducted workshops for more than 100 boards. He has also edited the book, Meditations for Meetings; Thoughtful Meditations for Board Meetings and for Leaders (Good Books).
Foreword
. . . never thought a man lost time by stopping to sharpen his ax.
--Abraham Lincoln
Board service is not a science with formulas that consis-
tently produce a predictable result. Board service is most-
ly a matter of common sense. But what is more uncommon than common sense? The scene that repeats itself in boardrooms daily is well described in the German proverb:
Everybody does what they will,
No one does as they should,
But everybody is fully engaged.
Board service is like jazz--you experiment until you find a chord that works, and then you play it for all you can. Board service is frequently an exercise in creative pragmatism.
These essays are short and to the point because most directors have limited reading time. Keeping each essay to two pages allowed me to cover many subjects which confront boards, although it precluded my doing so in detail.
anting this book to benefit from the insights of other practitioners, I invited critical comments form the following: Ruth Daugherty (United Methodist committee women); William E. Dunn (CEO and chairman); Karen Foreman (Habitat executive and lecturer, Organizational Development professor at the University of Washington); Chester A. Raber (consultant, author); Dean A. Stoesz (my son, a for-profit manager). Their helpful comments have been incorporated and are hereby gratefully acknowledged, along with the editorial contribution of Phyllis Pellman Good who helped to make the text more understandable.
My purpose in writing this book is to make service on a board more effective and enjoyable. I have found that there is ample room for both. -- Edgar Stoesz Fall, 2000
Sample Chapter
Purpose
Why does this organization exist?
Organizations exist to do, to accomplish something. A board's first duty is to define what that is. Boards do this by asking the following questions:
1) What do the members who elected us expect us to do? Why are they supporting us?
Member expectations are seldom in written form, but they exist. Bylaws usually have a section on purpose, but their intent is to satisfy a legal requirement. Organizations need a purpose statement which is dynamic and keeps them focused on why they exist.
Directors can surmise what their members want by what they support, by whom they elect, and by what they say informally.
2) What is needed? What are our opportunities? What is our niche? Needs abound, and so do nonprofits to address them! There are in the United States some two million nonprofits, all specializing in something. Habitat for Humanity specializes in building decent, affordable houses with and for deserving families. Others do cultural or historic work, like the Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges. On a local level are active schools, clinics, and camping programs.
Directors must identify the need to which they feel called, consistent with member expectations.
3) What are our resources? What do we know? What can we do? What do we have or what can we get by way of staff, money, or material? Many nonprofits are tempted to want to be all things to all people. They chase popular causes. They overestimate themselves and underestimate what is needed. Nothing is served by do-gooders undertaking something which is outside their competence or resources.
Against this background, effective directors focus on two things: vision and mission.
VISION is what an organization wishes to become. In defining its vision an organization lifts itself above everyday limitations and frustrations and asks itself, what do we want to become? They dream of something in the future.
The best vision statements are bold and concise. They help keep an organization focused and motivated.
The American Leprosy Mission enthusiastically adopted the following vision statement: Christ's servants, freeing the world from leprosy. Those seven short words say much about who the Leprosy Mission is and what it wants to accomplish.
MISSION is what an organization commits itself to do. Whereas vision is a dream, a stretch, mission is a commitment. This we will do. Habitat for Humanity says, Building houses with God's people in need. Mission is grounded in the here and now; vision reaches for the stars. Organizations need both.
Until an organization has a clear and compelling sense of purpose, it wanders. It remains tentative and lacking in focus. When an organization clarifies its purpose and commits to it, its limits will be determined only by the energy it can give to achieving that purpose.
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